As reported in the September 2nd issue of Win Awenen Nisitotung, Sault Tribe Inland Conservation Committee elected not to support a moose hunting season in Michigan. Provisions in the 2007 Inland Consent Decree require tribal (and state) approval of moose hunting. This outcome may frustrate people interested in moving forward with a moose hunt in Michigan; but for Sault Tribe officials, the precautionary route was prudent given the small number of moose that currently reside in the Upper Peninsula and the uncertainty over their population dynamics.
cultural resources
NYTs: Crow Reservation Relics Found
Here.
An excerpt:
ABSAROKEE, Mont. — The bitter tale of Indian-white conflict that unfolded at this spot more than a century ago was told not in blood and battle, but in the legalese and fine print of a contract.
Now an archaeologist hired by the Montana Department of Transportation to plan for a road rebuilding project has found the physical evidence, in stones and building fragments that were until recently buried beneath shimmering waves of alfalfa just off State Highway 78.
“An Indian tribe faced the end of its traditional way of life, and it happened right here,” the archaeologist, Stephen Aaberg, said as co-workers sifted dirt through mesh screens on a recent afternoon.
For the Crow tribe, the events of March 1880, on which Mr. Aaberg has focused his research, proved devastating. That was when a draft agreement from Washington was read aloud to tribal leaders for the first time here, at a compound that served as the arm of the federal government on the reservation.
Christian Science Monitor Article on Federal Recognition
CNN on the North Dakota “Fighting Sioux” Controversy
Here (via one of our Senior Canadian Correspondents). An excerpt:
The kerfuffle at hand dates to 2007, when the North Dakota Board of Higher Education agreed to retire the Fighting Sioux nickname by August 15, 2011, in accordance with the NCAA’s then-2-year-old policy on Native American mascots. If they ultimately chose not to do so, costly NCAA sanctions were promised, including the inability to host any championships and a ban on the use of the school’s logo or nickname at any championship events.
After Gov. Jack Dalrymple signed House Bill 1263 into law this year, the school was left with the dilemma of having to either disobey the government that controls its purse-strings or to flout the rules of the NCAA, the entity that controls the arguably mightier purse-strings of college football.
The nickname controversy appeared to be closer to a resolution Friday when Dalrymple and other state officials traveled to Indianapolis to meet with NCAA officials in a last-ditch effort to resolve the matter.
American Indian Students at UND File Suit over “Fighting Sioux” Nickname/State Legislation
Here is the complaint in Annis v. Dalrymple (D. N.D.):
Complaint and Jury Trial Demand
And the press release:
University of North Dakota Native American Students
File Suit to Prevent “Fighting Sioux” Nickname, Logo and Imagery
Seek damages after Legislature mandates use of the nickname Continue reading
Northwest Indian Canoe Journeys in NYTs
Here is a link to the article.
Michael Hanson for The New York Times
Canoes from tribes throughout the coastal Northwest converged on the Swinomish reservation, the host for this year’s gathering.
NYTs on State of North Dakota’s “Fighting Sioux” Controversy
An excerpt from the NYTs (permalink here):
The new law, signed by Gov. Jack Dalrymple, has left the university in a difficult position: defy the National Collegiate Athletic Association, which has mandated that all American Indian mascots be dropped, or break the law. The legislative debate has reopened wounds over retiring a beloved mascot that has graced hockey jerseys and pennants across the state for years.
University officials hope that a meeting later this month in Indianapolis between Mr. Dalrymple, legislative leaders and N.C.A.A. officials will help resolve the conflict. As it stands, if the university continues to use the name after Aug. 15, its athletics program would face penalties that could jeopardize much-lauded plans to join the Big Sky Conference.
For many North Dakotans, the future of the logo — a profile of an Indian with feathers in his hair — is personal. Grant Shaft, the president of the state’s Board of Higher Education, went to law school there and said five generations of his family attended the university. But Mr. Shaft says it is time for the university to move past the matter and comply with N.C.A.A. guidelines.
“My roots with the Fighting Sioux nickname go as deep as anybody,” he said. “The reality of the situation is that the Aug. 15 date is looming, and we’re starting to realize the consequences are really untenable for the athletics department.”
Another Article III Standing Case under the Indian Arts and Crafts Act
Here are the materials in Native American Arts v. Bud K World Wide (M.D. Ga.):
DCT Order Denying Bud K Motion to Dismiss
This one’s for A.K.
Galanda on the Oak Harbor Fiasco
Here:
Ignoring SHPO’s warning of Indian remains does not an inadvertent discovery make.
Oak Harbor claims that its disturbance of Coast Salish ancestral remains was “not intentional.”In other words, the city claims they inadvertently unearthed the Ancestors.
RCW 27.44.050 subjects Oak Harbor and its contractors to civil liability. That is because the city knew or should have known tribal ancestral remains would be uncovered through excavation, especially due to SHPO’s warning. Having ignored that warning, Oak Harbor’s acts were neither accidental nor inadvertent per RCW 27.44.050.
Oak Harbor and its contractors can now be subject to class action litigation for a potentially staggering amount of imputed and punitive damages under RCW 27.44.050, given Judge Robert Lasnik’s decision in Lummi Nation v. Golder. The imputed/actual damages calculus alone could go like this:
Number of defendants X Number of remains X $500 or actual damages, whichever is greater X Thousands of Coast Salish Indians with ancestral ties to the Oak Harbor Ancestors
Hopefully the threat of a class action lawsuit for millions of dollars (nothwithstanding the Supremes’ Wal-Mart decision) will cause Oak Harbor to remedy the situation. That said, the harm already inflicted upon Coast Salish People is irreparable.
City of Oak Harbor, Washington Ignored Findings of Native Bones for Years
The news article, discussing the Swinomish Tribe’s response, is here.
Turtle Talk 
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